2014 Fastest-Growing Cities: Texas Takes Five Out Of Ten Spots

Recent U.S. Census data indicates that the U.S. saw its smallest population gain since the Great Depression in 2013. Population growth came in at 0.72% in 2013, in stark contrast with the 5% seen throughout the relatively prosperous 1990s. Demographer William H. Frey of the Brookings Institution said the population decline was clearly connected to the economic downturn of the last five or six years. He argues the financial crisis made migrants less excited about coming to the U.S. as there were fewer jobs, and poor family finances related to unemployment also discouraged couples from having children.

At the same time, people were also moving to try and find jobs and cheaper places to live, which means population numbers changed a good bit during the period. Some cities grew, while a few, such as Detroit and Newark, shrank.

WalletHub analyzed a veritable raft of demographic data to determine the cities that have grown the most rapidly in socio-economic terms between 2008 and 2013. A representative 516 U.S. cities of varying sizes were examined across 10 key metrics, including factors such as population growth rate and unemployment rate decrease.

Five fastest-growing cities in the U.S.

The state of Texas dominated WalletHub’s 2014 Fastest-Growing Cities List with five of the top 10 spots, including the top two positions. The fastest-growing city in the U.S. in 2014 is Mission, Texas, located in far-south Texas. Irving, Texas (a suburb of Dallas) came in second place. North Charleston, SC was the third fastest-growing city in the country, Greenville, NC was ranked fourth, and Edinburg, TX came in fifth on WalletHub’s list.

Five slowest-growing U.S. cities

Chicago suburb Skokie, Illinois came in 512th out of 516 on WalletHub’s 2014 Fastest-Growing Cities List. Kendall, Florida was ranked as No. 513 on the list, Waterbury, Connecticut was 514th and Inglewood, California was second to last on the list in 515th place. The city with the dubious honor of being the slowest-growing city in the entire U.S. in 2014 — at 516th place on WalletHub’s list is Sunrise Manor, Nevada.